Sorry for the loooong absence.
It’s been more than a year since I last updated MNT Gaiden.

What was first an artist block then became a long hiatus with me trying to improve my quality of life.
I was by no means in a bad position in my life, I was just wondering if things could be better or different.

I tried a few times to force myself back into the project, but it only led to some frustration, time wasting and a few scrapped ideas and pages.

For most parts, I was taking some time to sit back and just think about everything on my own, but not too much either.
It was probably the much needed me-time that was missing from my personal growth.

This phase is over now, and I’m back in the action.
I’ll continuously keep trying to find ways to better integrate this project in my every day life, so it can keep going till the very end.
Thanks for your support!

Ever since I came back from Japan, I’ve had an artist block.
The more I try to think about it, the harder it was for me to pinpoint the specific factors that led to that.
Outside of visiting family and really awesome pals like my long time TMNT friend Sakan and her fellow TMNT enthusiasts, it was actually rather stressful.

While Japan itself was wonderful and its culture was admirable, I realized while being there that I probably wasn’t prepared mentally to travel like that for so long.
When I came back from Japan (with no less than 25 video games in my luggage), I found myself appreciating what I had here in Montreal more than I ever did.
I embraced everything from the comfort of my bed to the scent of my apartment.

I guess I simply wasn’t ready to be away from my comfort zone for too long.
A week maybe, but two weeks? That was enough for me to get homesick.

Maybe this unfamiliar feeling of homesickness was what led me to drop everything and do other things that were equally as time consuming as drawing, such as:
-cook a lot more to eat better
-spend more time with friends
-clean apartment more often
-sleep earlier and longer
-more gym

I’m starting to get out of this phase of readjustment and slowly and gradually, I’ll sketch new pages of Gaiden again.
Now’s also a great time to review how I draw, to be more efficient.

Well. I had another artistic “burnout” lately… as in I drew so much with so little rest that inking even one character would make me rage quit immediately.
It was work stuff, not related to MNT Gaiden, or any other fanart.

The thing is, I left my company to join a new one, but I wanted to leave on a good note so I worked extra hard a few final tasks.
Those final tasks however, were so fun to do that I would bring work back home and keep drawing and coloring stuff till late every day for 2 weeks.
It didn’t occur to me that it sucked the inspiration out of me until I was finally done with it and moved on to a programming task.

My attempts at drawing during the last month usually ended with me thinking “screw this, I don’t feel like drawing at all!” and moving on to something else.
Like cleaning, doing the laundry, hitting the gym, going out with pals and visiting family.

I finally got back to drawing yesterday evening when I decided to face my demons and force myself to sit down and finish a page, no matter how it looks like in the end.
Having a small glass of Honey flavoured Jack Daniel probably also contributed to me daring myself to get over my inspiration drought… though after one glass, that vile liquor will forever remain in my cabinet, never to be opened unless I have nothing else to drink. Ugh.

I was actually working on doing a crapload of sketched pages so I could be sure that the pacing of the story is acceptable.

There are only three pages left before the end of this chapter!

On other news, I bought Beats Studio headphones (2013 revision) on discount of more than 50% and was quite pleased with them.
Until the left earphone started making crackling noises whenever it budges ever so slightly and this is despite me handling the headphones with the utmost care.

Luckily, this occurred within 30 days after I bought it, and the store’s policy allowed for returns within that period of time.

I got a new pair! The inevitable will happen again, but till then I’ll try to look for solutions on the internet.